the Akamai Knitter

In an effort to plan for my next pair of socks, I decided to peruse my sock patterns. It just so happens that this week I received the books Favorite Socks and Knitting Vintage Socks in the mail from Knitpicks. I’ve had Knitting On The Road for a few months. So I’ve been admiring these beautiful books for the past week. Now I’m not sure if it’s because I have such a wealth of patterns available to me or if it’s because I’ve lost touch of my knitting mojo, but I’m still no closer to a decision as to what to knit next then I was last week.

I’ve also been looking through my stash of sock yarn to aid in this dilemma, nothing is speaking to me! Well that’s not entirely correct. The Socks That Rock are crooning to me, only they aren’t singing to be knit. None of the other yarns are really shouting to be knit either. Maybe I’m asking too much of the poor things. Anyway, enough anthropomorphizing.

I have to admit that this has never happened to me. I have always been able to turn to my sock yarns for something to do and I have to tell you that I’m starting to panic. I’m on the foot of the second Pomatomus sock and I want something queued up for my take along project.

So maybe I have too many beautiful patterns and too many gorgeous yarns to choose from. Maybe I’ve lost touch with my knitting mojo. Maybe I just need to be patient with myself and stop pressuring myself to come up with a plan. I would like some sort of general idea of what to do by tomorrow since I’ll be out and about for a good chunk of time while I see the doctor about my knee.

Any suggestions?

There hasn’t been much progress on any of my projects this week so far. Sure, I’m about done with Chart 8 on the Hidcote Garden Shawl. I’m almost to the heel of the second Pomatomus sock and all I have to do for the We Call Them Pirates hat is sew the lining to the body of that hat.

But none of this is really any type of progress that I’d like to show off and take pretty picures of. I’d be lying if I didn’t say that I wasn’t feeling some pressure. I mean this is a knit blog and I’ve been spitting out some finished objects at a pretty rapid pace for awhile now.

“Produce! Produce! Produce!”, cried this voice inside my head.

“Whoa there. Slow down,” said another voice inside my busy head.

Slow down. Now those are words that I’m pretty sure I’ve read that on some kind of motivational poster somewhere with a cute little puppy on it or something. Yet, they’re pretty much on target. Sometimes you have got to listen to those silly voices! Maybe a little soul searching is in order.

So I’m not knitting like a fiend these days. Who says I have to? (Well, besides one of the annoying voice in my head.) What do I really need right now? What is really satisfying me right now?

The answer to that is simple. It’s the process of knitting. Right now all I really want to do is knit and not think of the finished product. Yes, the Hidocte will be lovely when it’s completed. So the Pomatomus socks will be great on the feet when they’re done. In the here and now, it’s each stitch that is making me really happy.

When I work on the shawl, the feel of the Zephyr is divine. The lace is challenging and relaxing all at the very same time. That in itself is wondrous. Another wonder is the way the stitches align themselves like pieces of a puzzle and turn themselves into a beautiful design.

When I work on the sock, I find that I love the way the metal needles glide together. I love the way the wool is a little sticky and springy at the same time. I love that I know the stitch pattern backwards and forwards. I love the colours of the yarn and how it makes the gorgeous geometric pattern just pop out.

So right now is the time for me to just sit back and enjoy the process and not let the lack of progress bother me too much. In fact, I’m enjoying the process so much that I’m resenting any little chore that takes me away from it. My spinning has taken a backseat to the knitting. The sewing of the lining has been put off time and time again. The winding of the skeins into usable balls has even been relegated to the rear of things to do.

As for the housework? Bah. Who needs a clean house when you have knitting to focus the spotlight on?

I’m inching along on the Hidcote Garden Shawl. I’ve been working on it incessantly but it seems like I’m not getting much progress on it. I know this isn’t true. I’m halfway through chart 7 of 10. It just feels like I’m slogging through a marsh of endless lace. I bitch and I moan as I work my way through rows that get longer and longer.

I’m purposefully neglecting the We Call Them Pirates hat. I’m knitting the lining and working with sport weight yarn on size 2.5mm needles just make my hands hurt, which leads to more bitching and moaning. I’m just about done with that part, but now I need to tack down the lining stitch by stitch to the back of the hat. Blech!

While those two projects are giving me fits, I’ve been savoring every round of the Pomatomus socks. I don’t work on it often, as I like to save it for those rare occasions when I feel I deserve a treat. I finished the first sock, and I know that the second sock would breeze by if I gave myself half a chance.

As I work my way back and forth between these projects, I plan and dream of future projects. I think of the Forest Path Stole that’s in my future and I wonder just how much enjoyment I’ll really get out of it. The entrelac seems tedious, but the end product is truly lovely. I visit the KAL blog often to read about how others are doing and I am so tempted to just break my one shawl rule and cast on. I’m already late joining the party as is.

For my next sock project I have been browsing the book Knitting On The Road by Nancy Bush. The pattern that has caught my eye the most is the Traveler’s Socks. They first grabbed me when I saw them on Grumperina’s blog and they’re one of the reasons why I bought the book in the first place.

I’m not sure if it’s because the book and Grumperina both have done them in shades of pink, but for some reason I now seem to think that this sock should only be done in pink. The problem there is I am not a pink person. I have some lovely blue yarn that I really adore, but I cannot see it or any other colour as a Traveler Sock. So there’s a big brick wall when it comes to this gorgeous pattern.

So I’ve been browsing the incomparable Cookie A.’s other available patterns and dreaming of her unavailable patterns. Have you seen Gothic Spire?! I also ordered a couple of books, which probably won’t get here until after I have completed the sock.
All this has left me feeling extremely restless and apparently very wordy. Maybe it’s time for one of those rare moments with the Pomatomus sock.

I love knitting lace with bamboo needles. My only complaint is that the points aren’t pointy enough. While I was at the Thursday night Aloha Knitters’ meeting, Michelle (sadly blogless) showed me a pair of bamboo needles that she had used a nail file on to make the points shaper. I thought this was brilliant and vowed to do the same to my needles as soon as I got home. Which is what I did.

These are the needles before I attacked them with a simple emery board.

After carefully filing around the points and then rubbing them down with some wax paper, I ended up with this.

They aren’t perfect, but they’re much better then they were pre-surgery. I’ll definitely be doing this with my other needles and I consider this operation a success.

The Hidcote Garden sits waiting for diamonds to be knit. The Pirate Hat waits for a lining to be sewed on. Meanwhile I have become utterly absorbed in the colours of the ocean and the beauty of the Pomatomus socks.

It saddens me to not know what this fabulous yarn is. I have a feeling it’s a discontinued yarn since I got it so many years ago at a local shop. Photographing the yarn was a bit of a challenge, but the pictures are mostly true to colour.

In the meantime I shall enjoy the knitting and the visual colour fantasia that this mystery yarn has to offer. I’m also loving the pattern which gives just the right amount of spice. How that Cookie A. keeps me busy!